The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has issued for public comment a proposed decision by an administrative law judge (ALJ) and an alternate proposed decision by Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon regarding requests by San Diego Gas and Electric and Southern California Gas Co. to recover from ratepayers costs related to wildfires that affect their operations. The ALJ’s proposal rejects the utilities’ requests, finding that the companies haven’t proven that the proposed rates would be just and reasonable. Simon’s alternate proposal partially approves the utilities’ requests by limiting the wildfire costs to 90% of uninsured payments that are more than $10 million per wildfire and imposing restrictions on the recoveries. “As assigned commissioner to this state’s fire safety proceedings, I harbor grave concerns regarding the liability risk surrounding critical energy system infrastructure in this fire-prone region of our great state,” said Simon. Comments on the proceeding, No. A.09-08-020, are due by Nov. 5; reply comments are due by Nov. 13. CPUC could vote on the proposals as soon as Nov. 29. For information contact the CPUC Public Advisor’s Office at (415) 703-2074, (866) 849-8390 or e-mail public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov.
Timothy
Articles from Timothy
Marcellus Benefits Slim for Pennsylvania Schools, Report Finds
Aside from those that have leased lands for development, Pennsylvania school districts do not seem to be benefiting much financially from Marcellus Shale activity, according to a recent report from Pennsylvania State University.
People
A member of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Timothy Alan Simon, has been named chairman of the natural gas committee for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). Simon was named to the position in late August by NARUC’s current chairman, David Coen, a regulatory commissioner in Vermont. Simon and his committee will work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Transportation.
People
David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, and Timothy J. Probert, president of Halliburton’s Global Business Lines, have been elected to El Paso Corp.’s board of directors. Crane, 50, will serve on the governance and nominating committee of El Paso’s board. Crane earned a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School. Probert, 58, will serve on the health, safety and environmental committee of the board. He received his bachelor of science degree in geology and geography from the University of London in 1972 and is a member of the corporate advisory board of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
Broad Federal Oversight Eyed for Derivatives, Swaps, Hedge Funds
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last Thursday proposed a sweeping expansion of federal regulatory authority over large financial firms and markets that he said pose systemic risks to the economy, including over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, credit default swaps (CDS) and hedge funds. His plan calls for the broadest reform of federal financial regulatory system since the New Deal, “not modest repairs at the margin, but new rules of the game” that are “simpler and more effectively enforced and produce a more stable system.”
Broad Federal Oversight Eyed for Derivatives, Swaps, Hedge Funds
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Thursday proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory authority over large financial firms and markets that he said pose systemic risks to the economy, including over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, credit default swaps (CDS) and hedge funds. He called for comprehensive regulatory reform, “not modest repairs at the margin, but new rules of the game” that are “simpler and more effectively enforced and produce a more stable system.”
People
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) President Frederick Butler of New Jersey appointed California Public Utilities Commissioner Timothy Simon and Arkansas Public Service Commissioner Colette Honorable to serve as co-vice chairs of NARUC’s natural gas committee. Committee members work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. departments of Energy and Transportation.
Virginia’s Plea for Delay of Offshore Sale Rejected
The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has rejected a request by Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine to delay a planned oil and natural gas lease sale off the state’s coast.
Virginia’s Plea for Delay of Offshore Sale Rejected
The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has rejected a request by Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine to delay a planned oil and natural gas lease sale off the state’s coast.
CPUC Member Bullish on Gas, LNG
The newest of the five California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulators, Timothy Alan Simon, with the usual safety and environmental qualifiers, came out last Tuesday strongly in favor of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal being sited in California, and for natural gas being viewed as a key component of what he termed the “blue bridge to a new green economy,” giving it equal standing with energy efficiency and renewable energy resources — the state’s two mandated top energy choices.